UNESCO Courier articles from April 1999

UNESCO Courier archives from April 1999

Ayacucho: an uneasy calm.(includes related article on the cost of the civil war to Peru)(Ayacucho, Peru after the defeat of the Shining Path guerrillas)
April 1, 1999... Festive traditions are reviving in the Peruvian highlands where the Shining Path guerrillas once held sway. But 20 years of civil war have left lasting wounds Ayacucho, capital of the Peruvian department of the same name, still lives on...

Peace without victory.(UNESCO focuses on sports for all as part of its commitment to lifelong learning)(Editorial)
April 1, 1999... We live in a world where the gap between rich and poor keeps on growing. On the sports field, or failing that, in streets, courtyards, or fields, such differences disappear like magic. Unesco's approach to sport is summed up in its 1978...

Indigenous peoples take on big business.
April 1, 1999... Transnational companies which mine and harvest raw materials on the rich lands of indigenous peoples no longer 'have it all their own way' "It's hard to explain what's happened to us. All we have left is our name: Amungme. The mountains,...

The oil flows, and the forest bleeds.(a group of Ecuadorian Indians sues oil company Texaco for 'ecocide' in the US courts)
April 1, 1999... A group of Ecuadorian Indians are suing the oil company Texaco for 'ecocide' in the U.S. courts One and a half billion dollars - that's how much compensation 75 Cofan, Secoya and Quechua Indians living in Ecuador's Amazon region want from...

Pretending for real.(simulation games are gaining popularity as educational tools)
April 1, 1999... Simulation games are gaining popularity as educational tools in fields ranging from humanitarian action to business management and accident prevention The policeman checks Sonia's passport and then directs her to the prison door with the...

What's in a game?(sports and the myth that it abolishes social divisions)
April 1, 1999... Does sport create harmony or foment division? Or both at once? Basketballer Michael Jordan's announcement on January 13 that he was retiring made headlines all around the world. He was up there with Pele, they said. The American superstar's...

Iranian women put on their running shoes.(includes related article on all-male Marylebone Cricket Club's policy of admitting women as full-time members)(sportswomen slowly making headway in Iran)
April 1, 1999... Sportswomen are slowly making headway in Iran even if men aren't allowed to watch them perform and vice versa The day - 22 August 1998 - is engraved in Iranian history as a victory for women. Forty of them took part in an amateur football...

Training for life.(disabled swimmer Stig Morten Sandvik credits sports with helping him achieve confidence and self-respect)
April 1, 1999... Disabled Norwegian student Stig Morten Sandvik has won medals as a swimmer. But sport has above all helped him achieve confidence and self-respect "It's thanks to sport that I'm so independent in life. Sport has meant everything to me,"...

Going for glory.(12-year-old Dong-whee Choi dreams of making it big in the tennis world)
April 1, 1999... A promising 12-year-old Korean tennis-player who seems to be relishing the pressure as he quests for athletic perfection and international acclaim Under the mid-morning sun at Chungnam National University in Taejon, South Korea,...

A star that never rose.(only few of the world's talented young athletes will make it to sporting stardom)
April 1, 1999... Sporting stardom beckons to talented young athletes all over the world, but only very few reach the top. Jean-Jacques Diodan's story is one of many "They used to tell me sport was just for hooligans. They deceived me." Who did? "Everyone."...

Basketball at midnight.(includes related article)(the Midnight Basketball League gives poor young males the opportunity to play the game and keep out of trouble)
April 1, 1999... Midnight Basketball is giving thousands of young males in poor neighbourhoods of U.S. cities an opportunity to play the game and keep out of trouble Anthony Carter, a 22-year-old African-American, is a star player in the University of...

Hidden hurdles of colour.(black sprinters' dominance of the sport in UK reinforce stereotypes that blacks are better off in an athletics career)
April 1, 1999... Black sprinters are dominating the sport in troubling questions belie what some see as a triumph against racism Monkey-hoots and banana peels fire down on the black British footballer who commits the sin of missing a goal. Reprehensibly...

The agony and the ecstasy.(the emotional build-up for an international sporting event creates powerful emotions that may turn sour)
April 1, 1999... The build-up for an international sporting event can create a tremendous sense of national unity. But there's always a danger of such powerful emotions turning sour A sudden roar surged from the throats of the thousands of spectators...

Batting for the nation.(political rivalry between India and Pakistan spills onto the cricket field)
April 1, 1999... How far has political acrimony between India and Pakistan spilled over onto the cricket field? The British novelist Alan Sillitoe once wrote that "sport is a means of keeping the national spirit alive during a time of so-called peace. It...

A Cuban mix of muscle and ideology.(Cuban government seeks to affirm patriotic values and national identity through sports)
April 1, 1999... Sport, a mainstay of Cuba's socialist Government, seeks to affirm 'patriotic values and national identity' "We owe 38 years of sporting achievement to the unconditional backing Cuban sport has received from the revolutionary Government and...

New players, same game.(the new republics of the former USSR use sports to help build patriotism)
April 1, 1999... The USSR used its mighty, gold medal-winning sports machine to help build patriotism. Now, the new republics of the former Soviet empire are trying the same trick. So far, to no avail The former Soviet Union today is a land of overgrown...

All together!(football's therapeutic and cathartic functions)
April 1, 1999... Being in a football stadium means you can sing, shout, jeer, swear and leap around - working off feelings you repress elsewhere. Even better, you're in a crowd It's a modern phenomenon, which only developed at the end of the 1930s, when...

May the betting man win....(Thais addiction to gambling)
April 1, 1999... Thai boxing fans are hooked on gambling as much as the niceties of their favourite sport For the past 20 years, Sialek Chanarak, a 53-year-old shop-owner, has spent nearly every Friday night at Bangkok's Lumpini Stadium, one of Thailand's...

No farewell to arms.(low- and middle-income countries boost their military spending)
April 1, 1999... The great powers might have cut down on military expenditure, but low- and middle-income countries have boosted their spending. In Asian countries alone, arms purchases have doubled in four years. Judging purely by the figures, the...

Alexandria, from papyrus to the Internet.(includes related article)(the rebirth of the Library of Alexandria may make it a new beacon of knowledge to the Arab World)
April 1, 1999... The Library of Alexandria was Antiquity's most prestigious centre of learning. Its rebirth may bring a new beacon of knowledge to the Arab world In the centre of Alexandria, between the eastern port and the university, a thousand labourers...

Latin America's endangered frequencies.(community radio stations)
April 1, 1999... A champion of community radio stations warns of threats to their existence in Latin America Alongside state-run radio and large-scale private broadcasting networks there is another world of community radio stations, owned, run and...

Leila Shahid: the resolve of a Palestinian envoy.(includes related articles)(Interview)
April 1, 1999... Since her high-school days she has embraced the Palestinian cause. Now, as the Palestinian Authority's representative in France, Leila Shahid is continuing the fight for the creation of a Palestinian state, for women's rights and peaceful...